This week’s theme
Words derived from the names of parts of the body

This week’s words
caltrop
chagrin
sinewy
repugn
rubberneck


This week’s comments
AWADmail 782

Next week’s theme
Terms from law

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(RUHB-uhr-nek)

MEANING:

verb tr., intr.: To look or stare with undue curiosity.
noun: A person who stares in such a way.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the idea of twisting one’s neck to stare at someone or something. Earliest documented use: 1892.

NOTES:

The word has been applied to a tourist and to going on a sightseeing tour. Francis Scott Fitzgerald in Tender Is the Night (1934):
“At Mr. Bill Driscoll’s invitation she went on an excursion to Versailles next day in his rubberneck wagon.”

USAGE:

“I’m not in the mood to rubberneck, so I leave the gawkers and the chaos of the accident behind and continue on my way.”
S.G. Browne; Less Than Hero; Gallery Books; 2015.

See more usage examples of rubberneck in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: